Confessions of a Small Town Retailer

The following is a copy of a letter to the editor, by my husband, David Swedberg, which ran in the Warroad Pioneer on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009.

A few years back, I decided to own my own business because I loved the community and it was an opportunity to be my own boss. What started as a three month business turnaround project became a three year education. I am learning how little I know about economics.

As for being my own boss, I now realize I work for everyone who enters my store and I have learned to love it. I try to figure out what you will need a year in advance and then order, receive, stock, clean, count and charge you for it when you finally realize it was something you always wanted. On average, my products wait for your purchase for a year (I’m sorry) so I pay our local banks interest on this investment because you will need it. Most of the time I kid people that I really own a museum and sometimes sell some of my exhibits. A portion of the product is dated, so I regularly clearance price it at my expense when I didn’t sell it in time.

When I put a price on the product, I take many things into account. First, I really don’t do the work – I just pay bills, so I need to find, train and pay some of the nicest people I know that would want to help me do this. I don’t pay them much, but it adds 20% to the cost of my product. They help me more because they like you and enjoy seeing you and living in our community together. When I was purchasing the store, a banker asked me why I wanted to spend so much money to buy a $5/hour job – I thought he was kidding me. Anyways, this 20% is the best money I spend, paying my friends to work with me.

The next thing I add to the price of the product is the cost of my building. The mortgage with the local bank is eye-popping, especially when I talk with a realtor and realize no one would ever buy it because it is in the wrong location and in the wrong town. But it is a good building, and I hire many local craftsmen to help me remodel and repair it.

The City utilites are almost as much as the mortgage, and the ordinances say I am responsible for any injury on adjoining sidewalks, so I salt and shovel them diligently. I also purchase insurance, which I buy from a local agent, and use when my customers need it.

The cost of the product is certainly a large part of the price I put on it. I am so grateful when I see my salesmen and women, and many times I have to go to Minneapolis or out of state to meet them and hear them tell me what you will need next year. My account is small, so I have to pay for everything they tell me you will need and when I find out you really didn’t like or want it, I clearance price it at my expense or donate it to the local thrift store where you can get some really great deals.

My suppliers are the key to my success. My pet supplier is the most amazing guy I know. He has a full-time job to support his pet addiction (sort of like a farmer). He will go to Florida to find and tour fish farms where many of our fish are raised, and go to the airport in the dead of night when the fish arrive. He injects oxygen into the fish bags and drives hundreds of miles in some of the worst weather to deliver pets to Warroad. He is my best grief counselor, often comforting me when pets are unable to make it to your house alive. This is one of the hardest parts of the job and there is no insurance for these losses, so we work together to do whatever it takes to keep the pets healthy and disease free. It is silly, but the most satisfying part of my job is feeding pets – they appreciate it so much and I know they really do need me.

Oh well, I got sidetracked. One more large cost added into the price of my product is the transportation bill to get the product to Warroad. In most cases, it is 15% of the cost of the product, but when I order through my volume suppliers and use local trucking companies I can get it down to 7%. These guys are worth every penny of it, and I enjoy greeting the drivers everyday at my door. My dad was driver, and these guys make it possible for us to live on the edge of civilization.

To conclude, I confess you will pay for my product in Warroad – but I don’t think it is more than I paid. The nagging problem is that it is 5-10% less than what I spent getting it here for your convenience. I agree, it is something I control and when I don’t, the better store will win. It is the classic case of caught between a rock and hard place, and I don’t think I would have it any other way. I was never good at economics: I only wanted to live in Warroad.

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Scheduling Wizard for Speakers, Churches & Businesses

“Can you imagine life without email?” SuperSaas developer, Jan Faber goes on… “Now, imagine that in five years you will say something like, ‘What?!  I have to call, be put on hold and wait until a receptionist can HELP me schedule my appointment?’  We are not far from online scheduling as the norm.”   During this hour-long exploratory training, Jan joins us live from Amsterdam, the capital of The Netherlands.  You will learn why you’ve never thought of this and how come you want to take action now. Listen in HERE. Follow this link to SuperSaas.

The implementation of SuperSaas saved me from serious overload when I launched my radio talk show. At first, I was spending hours chasing down guests and then emailing back and forth until we nailed down the details.  It was a nightmare! The implementation of SuperSaas, and the use of 2-step system (download below), managing the show from a nightmare into a nice and easy, smooth-flowing system.   After using it for the radio show for a few months, we also adopted it for our retail store, as we host groups in the Espresso cafe, parties in the Glow-in-the-Dark Mini Golf Range, and have vendors and order deadlines on a regular basis. At the store alone, it has replaced two separate scheduling tools and two additional employee journals.

The show aired, Thursday, Nov 12th and is now available
for your convenience HERE or at Blog Talk Radio.

Needless to say, I am excited to introduce you to Jan and his amazing SuperSaas scheduling tool! And, Jan has agreed to let me be an affiliate, so if you try it out, a small portion of what you pay each month will go to help support this ministry. Go Jan!

Download the call notes for churches HERE.
Download the call notes for speakers HERE.

View the sample Two-Step Scheduling System for Marnie’s Friends Talk Show:
Step One: Show Guidelines.
Step Two: The “Approved Guest” Instruction Sheet.

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Life Balance Bingo

Life Balance Bingo

I create little Bingo Games to help me make healthier life choices. I thought you might like to play “Life Balance Bingo: Food”. Click here to download a Daily Life Balance: Food Bingo card. To personalize it, print a copy and use white out or blank address labels to cover over my words and insert your own.

If you haven’t already done so, Click here to start “Eating with Gratitude” or “Eating with God” today! Let me know how it goes.
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Fun Soulutions

Just in at Soulutions: Fun new plaques. My favorite? “If I Only Had a Brain!”

Laurie’s favorite: “Nobody Knows What I Do Until I Don’t Do It!”
Dave’s favorite: “I Couldn’t Wait for Success, So I Went Ahead Without It!”

You might like the whimsical 6×28″ aqua/brown plaque that reads “Wish Upon a Star”.

Just in the Back Door… Over 100 boxes of new goods including lots of gifts
Just Ordered… 1000 yards of new ribbon, new beads and fun new engrave arts
Coming Next Week… hundreds of new scrapbooking stickers and supplies
Coming Soon… 1000 yards of new fabric including fleece, denim, cottons and more

Remember: Daily drawings during November for a FREE box of Christmas cards.

Click here to see all of the November Sales.

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Speaking on the Funny Side of the Brain: Humor Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

Get an overview of the 13 most common humor mistakes that speakers make and how you can avoid them. On this show we will get specifics on 6 of them. The focus is on clean, uplifting humor which would be appropriate for all ages and all types of groups.As a frequent presenter before all types of organizations in North America, Europe, The Middle East and India, Carla helps people stay on their creative edge. She has spoken to over 1500 groups internationally of up to 4000 people.

FREE TRAINING GUIDE:
Click here to download the Training PDF.

Listen in LIVE:
Thursday, Nov 5th
1-2 PA, 2-3 MT, 3-4 CT, 4-5 ET
on Blog Talk Radio
or at (646) 727-2510

If you can’t join us live, listen afterward, anytime at the Blog Talk Radio Show Archive page.

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Soulutions November Sales

NOVEMBER is the time to get your Christmas crafts and gifts underway! Soulutions is the best place on the northern border to find great gifts, craft supplies and discount deals during the entire month of November. Click HERE for the sale flyer.

- FABRIC SALE: Half of the fabric in the store is on sale! Velvet, fleece, cotton flat folds, Christmas prints plus more! - GIFT BASKET SALE: All Gift Basket Supplies are on sale 25% OFF (baskets, flowers, ribbon) - CHRISTMAS CARD SALE: Get your Christmas cards now. 20% OFF all boxed cards, including Dayspring! - NATIVITY SALE: Nativities at 25% OFF (excluding Willow Tree) - THE GREEN SALE: Green category items 10% OFF - STORE/BUSINESS EARLY DECOR SALE: All Christmas wreaths and garlands 25% OFF

Click HERE for the sale flyer.

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October 2009 Give Away Winners

CONGRATULATIONS! These 10 winners each receive access to the full collection of 32 Theme Sets for an entire year beginning today. The value of this gift is $360 (sold separately): Please help me congratulate: Lucila Morales Janice Poe Wanda Kilby Jeannette Williams Delora Parisian Kathy Gorham Charmane Echols Lois Linamen Jennifer Valerie Jackie Henry Thank you to everyone who registered for this Give Away. It was fun watching all your comments, pings, blog posts, Tweets and FBook updates describing your favorite set!

Besides developing resources and ongoing training opportunities for you, it is my great joy to pray for your ministries and events. I love you and your women, and consider it an honor to partner with you in any small way!

Note: These 32 theme development & publicity sets are always available from Ideas for Women’s Ministry for $12.95 each. Members enjoy a huge savings at $79/year or $7.95/month for ALL of the resources, including all 32 theme sets.


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Another New WM!

Frequently I hear from gals around the world who have downloaded the Free Women’s Ministry Guide and are launching a new WM. I am going to share one of these emails today, because, not only is Jackie Burner gearing up to start a new WM, but she also sent along an autumn leaf analogy that is the cry of my heart.

Jackie Burner wrote: “Our Women’s Ministry is kicking off in January 2010. Our leadership team is meeting each month to pray, plan and prepare. I have a Women’s Ministry Blog page and am beginning to introduce my teammates each week. I’m so excited about this ministry and can’t wait until January. Your ministry is the greatest. I have gleaned so much….”

Thank you, Jackie! Here is Jackie’s beautiful fall analogy, entitled,
The Beauty of Unity

As I was driving to work yesterday, I noticed that one of my neighbors has the most beautiful assortment of trees in his yard. I didn’t notice them as much this summer when all the leaves were green, but now that the colors have changed they are gorgeous. The colors range from yellow, orange, red, burgundy and pink. In looking at all those colors there are some that I probably wouldn’t put together to decorate my home or wear together in clothing, but when I looked at his yard, it is breath taking. You don’t notice that the colors may clash. You see God’s beauty working together for our enjoyment.

As I drove by taking in all this beauty, God spoke to me and said “that is how it should be in the body of Christ.” I asked, “how is that Lord?” This is what He said. In the body of Christ we have different people. All have different personalities, colors and giftings. We sometimes don’t think they could work together either. I pondered this all the way to work. He was so right (like I would ever think He was wrong).

In the church we do have many different people and sometimes we decide (you notice I said we) that we don’t want to work with that person because of personality differences or their likes are not what we like. They don’t agree with everything we say. They are just different, they don’t fit in. Do you realize that kind thinking is an insult to God. He created all of us. He does not create trash. No one person is any better in God’s eyes. In Genesis 1: 31, God looked at everything He had created including man and said it is very good (suitable, pleasant) and approved it completely. Did that mean some of the things He created? No, it was everything He created.

It’s time that the body of Christ gets a grip! We need every personality; every color and every gifting that people bring to our churches. Is everyone going to do everything the way you think it should be done? Absolutely not! If they did, that would mean they would all be like you! Wouldn’t that be boring? All these people working together makes a breath taking, beautiful church, just like my neighbors yard: A church that is doing what God has called it to do; a church that is winning souls and reaching out to hurting people; a church that is not all about me. What about me? A church that says, “What can I do for someone else?”

by Jackie Burner, Director of Women’s Ministry

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4 Keys to Honoring God with Your Story

With the current economic climate, more people are searching for answers than ever before. It is a terrific opportunity for Christians to share their stories and testimonies with friends, co-workers or audiences near and far.

	Our guest for this training segment is Mindy Ferguson, author of Hugs Bible Reflections for Women, a collection of 52 inspiring stories and Bible lessons.

4 Keys to Honoring God with Your Story
Thursday, October 29th
1-2 PA, 2-3 MT, 3-4 CT, 4-5 ET
on Blog Talk Radio
or at (646) 727-2510

Download the Training Worksheet HERE.

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Is God My Friend?

OK, girls! I must have struck a nerve when I addressed this topic in my Marnie Minute note last week.  I received so much feedback!  Thanks… thought I’d better share it here.

WM leader, Joyce, sent me this email: “What is the difference between viewing God as a friend and viewing ourselves as friends of God?” That is a GREAT question! Here are my thoughts:

When my children were small, they would experimentally call me “Marnie” instead of “Mom.” I would always say the same thing, “You can call me Marnie, but everybody does that. There are only three people in the WHOLE world who can call me “Mom” – and I LOVE to hear you say it!”

We, like Abraham, have the opportunity to be the friend of God by being available, willing and ready to say “yes” to His requests. And as well as being God’s friend, we are His children.

My earthly father, Kenneth Mehlhaff, was a dear friend to me, but I never called him that… never. I always called him “Dad” or “Daddy” — because he was the only human in the world that could have THAT NAME for me.

I feel the same way with God: Of course, He is our friend. But He is so much more than that. In fact, I feel that calling Him “Friend” seems incredibly inferior to some of the other names and roles available for Him.

I hope this helps! I love you!

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Here is a sample of the comments we received via email:

Yvonne from Sydney, NSW, Australia wrote… “I am so, so very pleased to see you ‘voice’ your stand on the issue of calling God ‘friend’. This has been a concern and weight on my heart for some time… Thank you for your courage in publicly ‘placing’ our God, Lord and Master in His Kingly position of honor, while I sit at His feet, praise, worship and at times, just be still in His presence.
May the Lord continue to bless you and your family, give you wisdom, courage, creativity and strength to continue using the gifts and talents He has blessed you with to guide and teach others.”

Carol wrote… “Loved your note – it brought tears to my eyes. It is so like our God to show us just what we need to know…when we need it. His Timing is perfect. Thanks for your obedience and honesty. It touches many always.”

Post your thoughts below or, better yet, link to this page from your favorite social networking site. Thanks for helping me turn thoughts toward Jesus!

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